IF and a MUD

There is a place on the Internet where fans of adventure games
gather. They meet other fans; they occasionally run into the people
behind the bylines on games. People mingle, discuss this and that,
occasionally talking of interactive fiction, more often talking of
whatever strikes their fancy.

ifMUD is the brainchild of Liza Daly. Over the years it has moved
servers; its codebase has been hacked until it only vaguely resembles
the PerlMUD source from
which it sprang. It has simmered since its introduction in June of
1997, a blend of personalities and ideas.

It may be labeled ifMUD, IF authors and fans may inhabit it, but it
is more than a discussion of IF. It is a community in every sense of
the word. A court has sprung up, presided over by the likes of liza
and inky, peopled by mamster the court jester and neild the writer,
occasionally haunted by a zarf. Most any topic of conversation is
welcome; if you get bored, feel free to build an addition to the MUD
or some clever object.

ifMUD is not a traditional MUD. There are few quests go on, no
battles punctuated by such sentences as "You hit the squid a glancing
blow." Think of it as IRC with items, a free-wheeling conversation
with props.

I bothered Liza until she agreed to give me a quote about the MUD.
Instead of a quote, I got a short monograph, which I hereby reproduce
in its entirety:

The MUD has definitely exceeded my expectations. I had sensed the
potential for a community after lurking on r.*.i-f [the Usenet
groups rec.arts.int-fiction and rec.games.int-fiction. Ed.] for
years. I also wondered what kind of people were so fond of a
technology that's essentially been obsolete since the late 1980's.

So I created the MUD after a few attempts to get people on IRC. I
expected an initial strong turn-out that would eventually decay as the
novelty wore off. To some extent, the novelty of the MUD environment
did wear off--in the first few months, people built extensive
landscapes, and many features were added to the MUD code to increase
its usefulness as a programming environment. These days, few new
areas or complex new objects are created.

What people didn't tire of was each other. There are over 180
accounts on the system--I'd estimate that anywhere from 30-50 of those
people log on regularly. The dialogue is international and therefore
non-stop: there's a day shift and a night shift and lots of little
shifts in-between. More new people are added every week. There's a web page of photos for
those curious to breach the fourth wall. There's a culture and an
etiquette. There is no good documentation.

I'm very pleased that I had the resources to start and maintain the
MUD (unreliable as retina.net may be). I'm extremely grateful to those
who've contributed their time and effort to make the MUD an enjoyable
place to hang out. As we say on the MUD, "Wave!"

The MUD is also an impressive conglomeration of adventure game
experience and know-how. Need a hint about a game? Ask these
people. Want opinions about your game-in-progress? The denizens of
ifMUD aren't stingy with thoughts and criticisms.